Originally Posted by
Aquaticus
Well said. Devil is in the details (which we don't know) but the same people that are saying "we have seen this before" are acting like infants. You're not changing opinions or mentoring but just doing managements bidding by dividing the group. Someone called the furloughs "chaff".
If we do furlough 3900 the airline isn't going to magically be crushing it 5 years from now. A lot of left seats will be nb fo and junior in BES for a long time. I also suspect a merger to not only quickly grow but to get around our base requirements and instructor requirements in the contract. IMO we are all going to feel it no matter who we blame.
Everyone has valid points and I think it's wrong to say people are acting greedy, infantile, scab-like, entitled, etc... THAT is divisive.
Those of us who say 'we have seen this before' are not being infantile, we are trying to send you a warning. For example, you are leveraging the threat of a merger in order to justify support for this TA right? THAT IS EXACTLY HOW MANAGEMENT WANTS US TO THINK. They change the threat each time, but the game is the same.
Post 9/11 the immediate threat was bankruptcy and loss of a lucrative pension. They got us to voluntarily accept concessions to avoid those VERY REAL threats. We got screwed - management got wealthy.
During bankruptcy the new threat became the liquidation of the company or the 'spin off' of the entire Airbus fleet onto a separate certificate. They once again got us to voluntarily accept concessions to avoid those VERY REAL threats. We got screwed - management got wealthy.
The point of this is that if you chose a career as a professional airline pilot you must be willing to face VERY REAL threats. You are going to get screwed either way, so the only question is how it's going to happen. My lesson learned is that you have to call their bluff.
So yes, if we furlough a lot of pilots and then merge - damn near ALL of us will probably get screwed in the SLI process. But don't forget that the company has a lot to lose as well. Kirby has a lot on the line - he's a young CEO and is very competitive and concerned about his success. He saw first hand how benefits accrue to the entire enterprise when the pilot group is happy (or even complacent), now I'm expected to believe he's not concerned about the impact of ****ing off the only part of the pilot group that hasn't already gotten f'd? No way. I don't know how much $$$ he's willing to put behind it, but it's surely more than we know right now. He's a gambler and he knows that pilot groups ALMOST ALWAYS FOLD. We may only have a pair of 10s while he has a huge pile of chips on the table, but it's very possible that he has a pair of 9s.
If you don't say no to concessions now, then you never will. You might as well admit it and get comfortable with the impact it will have on the rest of your career, because Kirby knows it.